Bittersweet Chocolate
by silverpeacesign
Summary: Nico Grey is starting a new life at a new school. From day one, a surly red-headed boy catches her eye...
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

'Time to start again,' I think to myself as I walk up the steps to Sweet Amouris High School. 'This time, no holding back. I am strong. No being scared. Give it my all and let no one take from me.'

This has been my mantra since summer started and my parents consented to sending me to a new school. Once they knew what had happened the night of junior prom they were more than willing to let me leave. The dark chill of those memories makes me shiver despite the warmth in the hallway.  
'It's over, I'll never see him again. He can't come near me. I am strong. No being scared. Give it my all and let no one take from me.'  
See, mantra. Just rinse and repeat until everything is ok again.  
I stop just inside the door, trying to get my bearings before I move deeper into the school. It looks pretty normal despite the weird name. Beige tiles on the floor, rows of blue lockers between doors leading to classrooms. All the other students seem to know their way around, class having started a week before. I got a late start because of some paperwork issues. I pull my class schedule from my pocket and try to make sense of where I should be going. My old school had used the block schedule and the new period style was giving me a headache.  
"Do you need some help, dear?" a voice asks. I looked up to see a grey-haired old lady completely dressed in pink. Glasses that look like they would slip off at any second are perched at the end of her nose as she stares up at me with a pleasant smile. She is one of the tiniest ladies I have ever met. And I'm not that tall.  
"Yes, I think?" Crap, I have to stop with the pathetic question thing. I am strong. No being scared. Etc, etc. Squeaky voice sort of belays that idea. I clear my throat. "Sorry, I'm new and I'm a little name is Nico Grey"  
Her smile widens. "Oh, well welcome! I had heard we had a new student joining us. I'm the principal, Mrs. Flavisham. Nice to meet you, Miss Grey."  
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Well this was already an improvement. My old principal was a dour old man who would use any excuse to give someone detention. Smelled a little like boiled cabbage.  
"You could probably use a guide," she says. "I'll send you to Nathaniel, he's the student council president and he knows this school like the back of his hand." She points to the door just to my right. "That's the student council room, he's usually in there before class starts." With that she's off, speeding down the hall towards a group of girls in fancy clothes and too much makeup chattering in obnoxiously loud voices.  
Narrowly avoiding stepping on a girl sitting on the floor and sketching, I go into the room. Again, normal looking, just like my old school. A blonde boy in a button-up, tie and slacks sits at one of the desks, a mound of paper in front of him. The way he dresses he looks like he would be at home in an accountant's office or funeral parlor. He scribbles furiously at a form, not even noticing when I close the door.  
"Wow. If that's the amount of homework I can expect at this school I better get in gear ASAP." Yes, better, more confident. Joking again feels good.  
His head whips up and he stands at the sound of my voice, a surprised look on his face. He is decent looking, with blue eyes and high cheekbones. A little taller than average height. Looks like he carries a lot of responsibility and wants everyone to know he is in charge. Not my type anymore.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you come in. Can I help you?" His voice is a surprise. Deep, mellow and pleasant. A voice you wouldn't mind following and taking orders from. Again, not my type anymore.

I take a deep breath and tried to hold off another cold shiver. "Yeah, the principal sent me. I'm new. Looking for someone named Nathaniel?"

"That's me. You must be the new transfer."

"Yeah. I'm Nico Grey, nice to meet you."

"Nico? That's an unusual name for a girl."

"It's actually Nicole. But Nicole is boring."

"Why not go by Nicky then? It's more feminine and pretty."

I stare at him. Who was this guy to say something like that when he only just met me? Definitely was reminding me of my ex. He had encouraged me to go by Nicky as well. "I like Nico, thanks."

Something in my tone must make him realize he hit a nerve. He flushes, making his WASP-y blue eyes look bluer. His hands start to flutter, pushing through his hair and adjusting his collar. "Sorry, that was kind of out of line. Nico is fine."

I don't acknowledge the apology. Call me petty but I'm sick of guys thinking they know what's best for me just because I'm a girl. I hold out my schedule so he can see it. "Can you tell me how to get to room 302? Class starts in a few minutes and I don't want to be late on my first day."

"Yeah, sure," he says, his flush darkening. "It's up the stairs at the the end of the hall and to the right. Third door down. You should have Mr. Sanchez. I'll also need you to fill out this form-" he pulls one from the stack of paper on his desk and hands it to me- "and get a student ID photo back to me by the end of the day."

"No problem. See you then, Nathaniel." I take the form, stuff it in my backpack and move to leave but his hand touches my shoulder.

"Nico, I'm really sorry. I don't know what it is I said but I don't want your first day here to start badly."

I manage a brief smile. Poor guy looks honestly distressed. "It's cool." His relieved look makes me smile wider. "See you later."

I leave before he can say anything else. And bump right into someone with a bowl cut and thick glasses I had hoped wouldn't find me.

"K-ken?!" I choke. "What are you doing here!"

"Hi Nicky!" He chirps, oblivious as always to my distress. Ken has been in love with me since we were kids and I'd saved him from a kitten. No joke, he was terrified of the thing. "How's your first day going?"

"Absolutely crappy now!" I snap. "What are you doing here, Ken?"

"I go to school here now. I wanted to make sure you were ok. You didn't answer any of my calls over the summer."

"So you followed me here?" I try to fight down the panic I can feel rising from my gut. If Ken found me here, HE could find me too. And follow me. "Who even told you I was here?"

"Tyler did," he says, starting to look hurt. "I thought you would be happy to have a friend here at this new school. What did you do to your hair? It's not very...you."

"No, Ken," I hiss. "I left that school SPECIFICALLY to make NEW friends who wouldn't lie or betray me. I can't BELIEVE you or my stupid brother! And there is nothing wrong with my hair! Now leave me alone or I swear I'll... I'll..." I choke on bile and pushed past him and up the hall, fighting back tears as I run up the stairs. Instead of going into my classroom I duck into the first bathroom I see. Coast looks clear so I lean against the door, shaking slightly as I fight to stay calm and not cry. I am going to kill Tyler. He may be only six but we all told him he shouldn't let anyone know where I was going. I pull out my phone to text my mother when a voice stops me.

"You do know you're in the men's room, right?"

I don't know how I didn't notice this guy when I came in here but there he is, leaning against the wall under the window with a cigarette dangling from his fingers. As I watch he takes a drag, holds it for a second and then blows it towards the open window. I can't help but notice the long, lean line of his neck and the long fingers that hold the cigarette. He is tall and lanky with dark clothes and bright red hair that falls to his collar. His brown eyes are focused on me and I can feel the blush coming.

"God love a duck," I mutter. "This is not my day." At least the embarrassment makes it easier to ignore the fear creeping up my spine.

His eyebrow raises at the expression. "God love a duck? That's unusual."

"I've got a six-year-old brother. No swearing allowed so I've been forced to find more creative ways of expressing frustration." He smiles at that and it is lovely. Takes away some of the hardness around his eyes. I smile back. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you. I don't know my way around and just ducked into the first bathroom I saw."

"No problem," he says, voice husky and smoky and deep. He takes another drag. "Not going to rat on me, are you?"

"For what?" I ask, moving away from the door and going to one of the mirrors above the sinks. No use being embarrassed now and I may as well be presentable. I check to make sure my eyes are not red and puffy and the panicked expression is gone. It is but my hair is a mess. I sigh and pull out my brush, running it quickly through the now platinum locks streaked with bright blue and pink and green. It is cut short to my chin in choppy layers that frame my face and bring out the green in my eyes. It used to be brown and down to my shoulder blades. I hacked it all off the day after junior prom. He had liked my hair long and girly.

"For smoking. Not exactly an approved activity on school grounds." His smile is wry now and slightly jaded.

I shake my head. "I won't tell as long as you don't tell anyone that I was in the men's room. Which is remarkably cleaner than I expected it to be." His laugh is unexpected and loud, echoing in the tiled room.

"What's your name, new girl?"

"Nico Grey. What's yours?"

"Castiel." Before he says anything else the bell rings. He flicks his cigarette out the window and stuffs his hand in his pocket, pushing the pack of cigarettes deeper. He moves past me to the door and opens it a crack, looking left and right before opening it fully. "You're clear, new girl. No one will know your secret."

I smile at him, touched by his gesture. "Thanks Castiel. I'll see you around?"

"Maybe," he grins before he saunters down the hall. I look around again just to be sure before I dash across the hall and into the classroom right in front of the teacher.

Class is uneventful. I've always been good with history and the dates of important events. My next two classes pass quickly until the one before lunch. That one is math, my worst subjects. And I'm already a week behind everyone else. Castiel is in my class and, surprisingly, no one is in the seat next to him. I take the empty seat and smile at him. "Hey. How's it going?"

He shrugs in response, tipping his chair back to stare out the window. Then the teacher starts talking and we have no chance to chat. Her name is Ms. French (I am amused by this since she is a math teacher) and she gets right to business. I barely passed algebra so her talking about trig just makes my head hurt. I stare blankly at her, trying to understand, but then she assigns us problems to practice in our book. I struggle for a few minutes before a smoky voice interrupts my thoughts. "You missed a step." A long fingers points where I made the mistake. Castiel saves me again. I smile quickly and he gives a barely perceptible smile back. I see his worksheet is already done.

"You're good at math," I whisper. For some reason this makes him frown and move back into his own space.

"Don't act like it's such a shock."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's awesome."

"What, that a hoodlum like me is good at something academic?" I am shocked at that. I never thought that.

"I didn't say-"

"Miss Grey!" Ms. French snaps from the front of the room. "Pay attention to your own work! Or would you like to come up here and demonstrate a practice problem for the class?"

I blush bright red as everyone turns in their seats to stare at me. I look down and don't speak, hoping they will all look away. Eventually Ms. French goes back to talking about the problem on the board. As soon as her back is turned, I glare at Castiel.

"I never thought that. I don't appreciate you putting words in my mouth," I whisper at him. "I thought it was good because I already know I could use a tutor. Since you're the only person I know at this school that's good at math I thought I would ask you. Guess not." The bell rings and I shove everything into my bag and leave before he can say anything. I need to find a place to get a picture before lunch ends. And I have no idea where to go.

I stand in the hall for a moment before I decide to just ask someone. No other way to find out, right? I spot a girl with curly blonde hair a few feet away standing in front of her locker, carefully applying a layer of lip gloss. I step up to her. "Excuse me? Can you help me? I'm new and I need a student ID picture but I don't know where to get one."

"And this is my problem...How?" I blink at her rude tone. "Just look around," she says, closing her locker door with a snap. She stares at me with disdain, her blue eyes narrowed as she looks down at me. "I'm sure you'll find some other loser that can help a charity case such as yourself. Seriously, where did you find that outfit? The bottom of a garbage can?"

I look down at my outfit: an oversize black Streetlight Manifesto shirt that hangs off of one shoulder, a white tank top underneath, slightly faded denim shorts and laced boots that come halfway up my calf. I thought my outfit was fine. I look up at her at her smug smile. I refuse to let her make me feel bad. Girls like her are one of the reasons I left my old school. "Wow, the surplus of rude people in the school just astounds me. Where did you get your manners, the Little Witch School for Stuck Up Jerks?"

Her eyes widen and narrow and she frowns, her pretty face now turning ugly. "Listen, loser, you need to watch what you say to me. I'm not someone you want to mess with." With that she shoves me and saunters down the hall, tossing her white leather bag over my shoulder so it almost hits my face.

I watch her walk away, the anger from the morning and last class coming together on top of this newer anger at this girl. Who does she think she is?

"That's Amber," someone says. I turn and see a girl with long red hair in a braid wearing a purple shirt. She smiles at me. "She's one of the popular girls here. She's not nice to anyone. I'm Iris, by the way."

"Nico," I reply, trying to smile back. "Is it just me or does someone need to give her an attitude adjustment?"

"No one dares," Iris says. "They're too scared of her long nails." This makes me laugh and Iris laughs with me. "You said you needed a student ID photo? Come on, I'll show you where to go." I follow her down the hall and out to the front lawn. I see Castiel leaning against a tree near the wall but I ignore him, listening to Iris talk about how, as seniors, we get to go off campus during lunch. Which is good since the only place to get an ID picture is the dollar store across the street. Turns out Iris is in my history and home ec classes and she's in the music club. She says all students need to join a club but hers is full, which is sad because I was in the music club at my old school. I get my picture and some new pens and we head back to campus. Already I feel like Iris could be a good friend. We pass Castiel again; he hasn't moved from the tree, and I can feel his eyes follow me.

"What's with him?" I mutter to Iris.

"Castiel is a little... Difficult." Iris says. "He's not really nice to anyone. Doesn't talk much either."

"He was nice to me for a little bit," I say. "Then he totally freaked out at me when I said he was good at something." Iris shrugs in response and the bell rings so we head our separate ways. She promises to save me a seat next to her in our home ec class at the end of the day. This makes me happier than I have been all day.

That happy feeling fades when I see Ken is in my next class. He tries to get my attention but I ignore him and sit alone in the back. He tries again and again during class but I try my best to concentrate on dissecting this worm. I pretend it's Ken. He corners me as the teacher is letting us pack our bags. "Nicky, why are you being so mean to me? I only want to help you."

I sigh. "Ken, I'm not Nicky. I'm Nico. I'm not that sad, pathetic girl anymore. And while I'm sure you had good intentions, I don't need or want you here. And if you tell anyone at our old school where I am, especially Jacob and Claire, I'll sic my cat at you. And my father." This makes Ken blanch. My dad is ex-Army and it took a lot of pleading by me and my mother to keep him from hunting down and shooting my ex.

Next period is study hall. Another perk of being a senior. I head down the hall where I think the library is. I spot Castiel down the hall and try to duck into a classroom before he spots me. I'm too late though. He jogs over to me, stopping me before I can go into the empty room. "Hey. Can I show you something?"

"You going to be mean to me again? Cuz I'm telling you now, it's been a crap day and I don't need any more reasons for it to be that way."

He shakes his head. "No. Just come with me." Without waiting for my response he walks towards the stairs in the opposite direction of the library. I sigh and follow him. May as well since I have no idea where the library is anyway.

He takes the stairs two at a time, leaving me to try and catch up. I have shorter legs so by the time we reach the top of the staircase I'm breathing a little heavy. Castiel fishes a key out of his pocket and unlocks the door with a sign on it that says 'Roof. No admittance.'. He opens it and holds it open for me, gesturing for me to go first. "After you." A little wary, I step through the door. My breath catches in my throat as I see the view.

The school is up above the town on a hill. From any place on campus you can usually see some of the homes and shops below. But from here, you can see everything and more. The mountains in the distance look very close from here. The wind is gentle and plays with the ends of my hair. I look at Castiel who is lounging against the wall by the door that he left open. He is watching me, waiting for my reaction, his body tense. I realize this is his secret place, his refuge, and he is sharing it with me. This makes me smile. He really is pretty sweet under all that moodiness.

"How did you find this place?" I ask.

"Swiped the keys from the student council president awhile back. I come up here instead of going to the library during study period."

"I don't blame you. It's way nicer up here than any library. Not that I know where the library here is."

He smiles at that. "The old pink bat didn't assign someone to show you around?"

I assume he means the principal. "Yeah, she kinda did. But Nathaniel said something that pissed me off so I didn't get the grand tour."

Castiel chuckles and takes a seat on the floor with his back against the wall, tilting his face up towards the sun. "He did, huh? Good to know I'm not the only one around here who doesn't think he's amazing."

"He's a stuffed shirt for sure," I say, taking a seat next to him. I pull my folder out of my bag and start filling out the form Nathaniel gave me this morning. Castiel and I sit in silence for the rest of the period. I finish the form and start working on homework while he just sits with his eyes closed. I think he even falls asleep for a few minutes. Right before the bell rings to signal the end of the period he stands, brushing off his jeans. He silently offers me a hand up. I take it and he pulls me to my feet with ease. His hand is warm and slightly calloused and lingers maybe a second too long.

"Thanks for bringing me up here," I say. "Would you mind if I came again tomorrow?"

He nods. "I'll meet you at the door. Bring your math homework, I'll help you with it." This earns him a smile.

"Thanks Castiel. See you tomorrow."

"See you, Nico."

I like the way my name sounds when he says it.

I meet Iris in front of the home ec classroom (I didn't get lost, yay!). We go in together and grab a table at the back. The rude blonde girl from before- Amber, I think?- is here too, paired with an Asian girl with straight black hair in a red dress.

"How does anyone stand being around that witch?" I whisper to Iris.

"That's Lin. Her and Charlotte are Amber's best friends. None of them are very nice."

"There's always a trio of popular girls who aren't very nice, isn't there?"

Iris nods. "Even at your old school?"

"Especially at my old school." The teacher comes in just as the bell rings to begin the period. His name is Mr. Houle and he starts us off mixing cookie dough right away. These are simple cookies I've made a thousand times at home. I'm pleased when Amber's first batch comes out as lumps of charcoal. Amber glares at me when she hears me laughing at how badly she messed up.

As our cookies cool, Iris and I continue to talk. She's a genuinely sweet person and while she giggles at my snide remarks about Amber she admonishes me for saying them. At the end of class she gives me her cell phone number and asks me to text her if I need anything or want to chat. I promise to tonight after I get home. The final bell rings and I head back to the student council room to give Nathaniel his form and my picture.

He's at the same desk I saw him at this morning, hunched over an identical stack of papers. This time he notices when I walk in. "Hey Nico. Do you have everything?"

"Yeah. Here you go." I have him the form and photo. He glances over them quickly before slipping them into a folder with my name on it. "You're pretty organized, aren't you?"

"I have to be," he says. "I'm in charge of most of the student forms. It's my job to make sure all students are accounted for."

I stare at him. "You aren't a lot of fun, are you?"

He flushes at that (boy embaresses easy, apparently). "I-I can be fun."

"Uh huh," I say, disbelief thick in my voice. "So tell me a joke."

"Excuse me?"

"A joke. You know, knock knock, who's there, etc etc?"

"Oh. Um, ok..." He thinks for a moment. "What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu?" He pauses a beat. "If you have bird flu, you need tweetment. If you have swine flu, you need oink-ment."

I can't help it. It's such a bad joke that I need to laugh. Then I can't stop. Today has been such a roller coaster of emotions and events that I need to let it all out. Nathaniel looks surprised at my laughing then begins to laugh himself. I laugh until tears form in the corner of my eyes. Then I am crying for real and Nathaniel looks panicked. He helps me to sit down at a desk.

"Are you alright? Nico, take a deep breath before you pass out."

I take several breaths and focus on the air going in and out of my lungs. In, out. In, out. I am strong. No being scared. Give it my all and let no one take from me. I calm down enough to smile at him. "Sorry about that. I'm ok now."

"It's alright," he says. He pulls a honest to God handkerchief from his pocket and gives it to me. I take it and dab at my nose and eyes, hoping I don't look too blotchy. "Rough day?"

"In more ways than one," I sigh. "I had hoped coming to a new school would make all the drama and rudeness go away. Guess it's a high school constant."

"I am sorry for my comment earlier," Nathaniel says. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Yeah, it wasn't the best way to start my first day," I say with a grin. "But apology accepted." I try and give him the handkerchief back but he shakes his head.

"Keep it for now. Just in case tomorrow isn't as good as you hoped either." I nod and tuck it into my back pocket. I'll wash it and return it to him later. Despite the insensitivity of earlier Nathaniel is turning out to be a decent guy. Maybe he can be a friend too.

Time to go home and soak this day out of my bones.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2  
The next few days are, thankfully, uneventful. I have made a couple of friends, mostly girls Iris has introduced me to. Castiel and I still meet up on the roof during study period. My math skills have already improved under his tutelage. At first we talk only about little things like people at school and the teachers. Soon he is opening up and so am I. He only smokes two cigarettes a day (trying to cut down). He has a dog he adores and his parents are rarely home so he pretty much takes care of himself. He doesn't have any siblings. I think he may be lonely a lot, especially since I never see him talk to anyone else. When I do see him interact with other people he's terse and grumpy.  
I tell him about my favorite bands (Caravan Palace and Streetlight Manifesto) and movies (Casablanca and Fast Five) and my cat, dog and two corn snakes. I tell him about my family. How we moved a lot when I was a kid for my dad's job. How my mom makes the best pies and is starting her own pie business as soon as my brother starts first grade. How my brother annoys me and can't keep his mouth shut but I wouldn't trade him for anything. I don't tell him anything about my old school. Fortunately he doesn't ask either.  
Nathaniel actually gave me a full tour of the school the day after the crying incident. I now know where most everything is. He is nice, if a little stuffy, and his pompousness sometimes puts me off. But most of the time he is kind and smiles at almost everything I say. But he doesn't seem to get along with Castiel. The one time I saw them interact they looked like they wanted to punch each other. I don't think they knew I was there but they were arguing at the end of a hallway. I was curious what they were arguing about but I didn't ask Castiel when I saw him during study period.  
It's during lunch a week after I start when Nathaniel approaches me. Iris and I are sitting on a bench with her friend Kim eating our lunches. Nathaniel seems to appear out of nowhere, he came up so quietly. He actually makes Kim jump a little, spilling soda onto her cargo pants. "Nico, could you do me a favor?"  
I glance up at him, squinting a little from the sun right behind his head. "Um, sure. What do you need?"  
He takes a deep breath like he's girding himself for battle. "You're friends with Castiel, right?"  
"I think so. Why?"  
He sighs. "I need him to sign this absentee note and he's refusing to do it. If he doesn't sign it and turn it in by the end of today he could be expelled. Could you talk to him? See if you can get him to sign it?" He holds out the form, his expression pleading. I look between him and the form, debating with myself. I really don't want to get involved if they're having an argument. I am trying to keep my senior year as drama free as possible. But Nathaniel looks so downcast that I have to try.  
"Sure, I'll give it a go. I guarantee nothing though." His smile is bright.  
"Thank you Nico. I'll be in the student council room during study and after school." He nods at Iris and Kim and walks away. Kim glares at his back, still wiping sticky soda off her pants.  
"Girl, he better be worth it to you. These pants are brand new and if they stain I will skin him."  
"He's not anything to me," I mutter, taking a bite of my sandwich to hide a blush. Nathaniel is cute but he reminds me too much of my ex, even if he is a thousand times nicer.  
"Doesn't matter. She likes Castiel anyway," Iris says with a grin. "She spends all her study periods with him on the roof."  
"He's helping me with trig," I say. "I would be failing the class without him."  
"Uh huh," Kim says, leering at me. "That's how it starts. Math tutoring. Then it slowly becomes something much more sinister." She lowers her voice. "Like biology tutoring, if you catch my drift."  
I swear I am bright red now. I slam my lunch box closed and stuff it into my bag. "I'm going to see if I can get him to sign this before lunch ends. I'd rather just get it done that worry about it when I'm trying to do math. See you guys later." I leave them in giggles, talking about how Castiel and I are particularly interested in anatomy. Yay I have friends. And all the teasing that comes with them.  
It's not that I don't like Castiel. I do. I think he's cute and funny when he's not doing the dour loaner routine. And he's really quite sweet in his own way. I'm just not ready for another relationship. It's easier to be friends.  
Yes, and rainbows are really formed of unicorn farts and the moon is made of mochi.  
I find Castiel under his usual tree. He is readying a book. Looks like one of those H.P. Lovecraft anthologies. Figures. "Castiel!" I call. He looks up at me and the corners of his mouth curve up in a half smile.  
"Hey Nico. Didn't I just see you a few minutes ago?"  
"Yet here I am again. I'm like a bad penny, I always turn up when you least expect me." Yuck, did I really just say that? Cheesy much?  
Fortunately he just chuckles and folds down the corner of his page to mark his place. "What's up? Or did you just want more of my company?"  
I bite my lip, trying to think of how to say this. "I need a favor."  
He raises an eyebrow at that. His brow almost disappears under his bangs. "What kind of favor?" I take out the absentee notice and show it to him.  
"Nathaniel gave this to me. He says you need to sign it and return it to him by the end of the day." Castiel glances at the paper and frowns, his dour loaner mask coming on.  
"So he sent you. And how nice for you to do that for him. You another one of his errand girls now?"  
I glare at him, anger heating my cheeks. "He's my friend. He asked me as a favor since you two don't get along."  
"And why should we? He isn't man enough to do any of his own dirty work so he sends a little girl to do it for him."  
I take offense to that. I've gotten teased a lot over the years about being short. I don't like it when someone I thought was my friend does it to me. "Well maybe someone should man up and take responsibility for his actions so Nathaniel wouldn't have to send a messenger."  
I can tell this makes him angry. His eyes narrow more and his expression twists into something close to rage. "Well you can go tell Nathaniel that he can come talk to me if he wants his stupid paper signed. He doesn't need to send one of his groupies."  
"Blast you three ways from Wednesday, I'm not his groupie, I'm his friend! If you don't sign this paper you could be expelled!"  
"Well it would certainly free up your study period to spend more time with Mr. Perfect. I hear he's pretty good at math too."  
"Is that the only reason you think I spend time with you?" I ask, trying to keep the hurt from my voice. "For math? I thought we were friends."  
Castiel apparently has nothing to say to that. Because I don't want to cry in front of him I leave, taking the piece of paper with me. I walk as calmly as I can back towards school, refusing to let him see me cry or show weakness. That's when they get you.  
The principal is standing at the top of the stairs leading to the main building. "Miss Grey, do you have a moment?" Thank you, Universe. Just add to all the fun I was already having...  
"Uh, yes, I guess. I've got a few minutes until my next class."  
"Wonderful. Have you given any thought to what club you want to join?" Whoops. Totally forgot about that. My expression must betray me because she sighs and shakes her head. "Miss Grey, may I remind you that participation in at least one club is mandatory at this school? There are openings in the basketball and gardening club. Do one of those sound interesting?"  
Let's see, grub in the dirt or sweat in a smelly gym. I think I'd rather sweat. "The basketball club, I guess."  
"Wonderful." She beams at me like I have said something truly magnificent. "They meet Tuesdays and Thursdays in the gym after school. Be sure to sign in so we don't mark you as absent." And then she's off to yell at some freshman for doing backflips off one of the planters.  
I go to the student council room but Nathaniel isn't there. I leave the form and a note explaining why it isn't signed. Then I head for bio.  
Ken, of course, is waiting for me. I've successfully avoided him for almost a week but today the Universe hates me. "Hey, Nicky-"  
"Nico," I snap. "Hellfire, Ken, if you insist on being a pain at least get my name right."  
"O-ok," he stammers. "Nico. Have you decided what club you're going to join? I'm in the gardening club."  
Thank God sweat won over grubbing in the dirt. "I'm in the basketball club."  
"Oh." He looks sad, his eyes actually watering behind his thick glasses. "Do you think I could switch?"  
"I'm pretty sure I took the last slot in the basketball club. Sorry." I try to get by him into class but he blocks me.  
"Listen," he says. "I was talking to Conrad from our old school and-"  
"You didn't tell him I was here, did you?" I hiss, the cold tremor already starting in my spine.  
Ken shakes his head. "No, I didn't tell him. Your secret is safe with me, you know."  
Hot relief takes away the cold. "Oh. Well ok then." I walk into the room and take my seat, Ken chattering at me about how Conrad was going to set up a big D&D campaign and would I be interested in joining? I shake my head and pull my books out of my bag, effectively bringing our conversation to an end.  
I can't concentrate at all during class. All I can think about is what I'm going to do during next period. I've always gone to the roof with Castiel. It feels weird that I won't be there today. Wrong, even. But I don't want to talk to him and he won't apologize anyway. I guess I'll hang out in the library like I was going to when I first came here. Woohoo.  
As I expected, the library is dark and dusty. No one is in here though it's supposed to be where we go for study period. I sigh and put my stuff down at one of the tables. At least it is quiet. I'm struggling through my second practice problem when someone calls my name. I look up and it is, surprisingly, Castiel. He looks uncomfortable in here. He's really meant to be outside in the sun, no stuck inside where it's dark. "Nico. You didn't come to the roof."  
"Didn't think I would be welcome after you called me Nathaniel's groupie," I say.  
"Oh. Um, can I talk to you for a sec?"  
I look at him warily. He doesn't look angry. The opposite, in fact. He looks almost deflated. "I guess. What's up?"  
He sits, perching at the edge of his chair. He rests his elbows on his knees and his fingers lace together, something I notice he does when he's uncomfortable. He stares at the floor a moment before speaking. "Nathaniel has been trying to get me expelled for years. He finds all these old rules no one follows anymore and makes me follow them when no one else cares. Like the absentee notice thing. No one cares about that, not even the old pink bat. But for some reason, he does."  
Well that wasn't what I expected. "Why didn't you just tell me that instead of going off on me?"  
He shrugs. "Wasn't thinking clearly. Let my temper get the best of me." He looks like he wants to say more but doesn't.  
I think about it for a moment. Who do I trust more, Nathaniel or Castiel? I don't know who is the wronged party here. Castiel sounds sincere but so did Nathaniel. Could Nathaniel really be trying to get Castiel expelled? Why? I want to ask but I don't want to set Castiel off again. Especially not now when he's actually opening up to me.  
"Ok. I won't make you sign the form. I already left it in the student council room for Nathaniel to find so I don't even have it here anyway."  
He smiles at me and looks a thousand years younger and more carefree. "Thanks. We ok then?"  
I nod. "On one condition." He raises his brow at me again. I smile and lean over the table, closer to him. "Say you're sorry."  
He stiffens and then relaxes again, his smile widening. "I'm sorry."  
"Say I'm sorry I yelled at you and made assumptions that weren't true and I won't do it again."  
"I'm sorry I yelled and made assumptions about you and Golden Boy that weren't true. And I'll try not to do it again. Scout's honor." I giggle at his nickname for Nathaniel and start packing up my things.  
"Let's go to the roof. It's stuffy in here." He nods and helps me pack my things, his hand brushing mine once on accident. On impulse I reach out and hug him. He seems just as surprised by the action as I am but he hugs me back. He's warm and smells like the sun and leather. I pull away first, hoping the dim light in the library hides my blush.  
We have a nice time once we get to the roof. Castiel helps me fix the problems I already messed up and coaches me through the ones I haven't done yet. By the time the bell rings to signal the end of the period I've done my homework for tomorrow. As soon as I stand up I remember what the principal told me about.  
"God love a duck, I forgot about the stupid club."  
"What club?"  
"The principal made me join the basketball club. You don't happen to know anyone else in the club, do you?"  
"Yeah," he says with a smirk. "But the information will cost ya."  
"Oh yeah?" I smirk back. "Name your price."  
He leans in close to me, his face not half an inch from mine. I can't believe he's this close to me. I can feel his breath on my lips. As soon as I think he's going to kiss me he speaks. "I hear you're making chocolate cupcakes in home ec today. I want some." I jerk back in surprise and he laughs, the sound ringing out across the rooftop. "What, you thought you would get a kiss that easy?"  
I can't help but laugh as well. I did think he would ask for a kiss. I'm relieved and at the same time disappointed that he didn't kiss me. But kisses shouldn't be shared that easy, right? They should only be between people who care about each other. I'm not that sure about Castiel yet. He grabs my backpack and hands it to me. "Meet me after school today and I'll tell you where you can find someone in the basketball club." With that he's gone, skipping down the stairs.  
"Yeesh. Mr. last word strikes again," I mutter as I follow him down the stairs, albeit at a slower pace.  
I can't concentrate during home ec. Fortunately Iris is a good partner and knows what to do. She tries to ask me what's going on a few times but I avoid the subject. I don't want to talk about it yet. Especially after how her and Kim teased me during lunch.  
I grab half the cupcakes and pack them into a tupperware when they're cool enough. Then I get my things together and stare at the clock. Five minutes until the bell rings. Fortunately Mr. Houle is pretty cool and lets us go a few minutes early. I say goodbye to Iris and dash out in front of everyone. For some reason there's a crowd gathered at one end of the hall, huddled around something. My curiosity gets the better of me and I join the crowd. I gasp at what I see. Castiel and Nathaniel are circling each other. Nathaniel's tie is gone and his shirt is partly undone. Castiel's jacket is missing and there is a rip in his sleeve. The angry look on his face scares me, but not as badly as Nathaniel's expression. Where Castiel looks pissed, Nathaniel looks like he could commit murder at any minute.  
"Castiel!" I cry, stepping out of the crowd and closer to them. "Nathaniel, what in the name of Miyazaki's thumbs are you doing?!"  
"Nico?" Castiel says, his face softening slightly. "What are you doing here?"  
"You're fighting in the middle of the freaking school!" I snap.  
"Stay out of this, Nico," Nathaniel says. His voice is really cold. It scares me. But I am strong. Not scared. I will give it my all and let no one take from me. "This is between me and the delinquent."  
"Screw you, blondie!" Castiel growls. His fist is in the air and flying toward Nathaniel's face.  
"Stop it, Castiel!" I shout. I grab his arm before he can hit Nathaniel. "Don't! If you hit him you'll be expelled for sure." I pull his arm away, tugging him away from Nathaniel. "Besides, you're supposed to tell me who is in the basketball club. You promised." I grab my backpack and the tupperware of cupcakes and pull him farther down the hall. The crowd breaks away from my glare and I'm able to pull Castiel outside and around the building towards the back. I gently push him to lean against the wall as I take stock of his looks. He doesn't have any cuts or bruises, just the tear on his shirt. "Where's your jacket?"  
"No idea," he mutters, sitting down heavily. "Amber probably has it."  
"What does Amber have to do with you and Nathaniel?" I ask as I pull out a handkerchief (not the one Nathaniel loaned me) and give it to him. "Here. You're all sweaty."  
He takes the handkerchief with a grunt of thanks and starts to dab at his face. "She's his sister. He saw her hitting on me and thought it was my fault. Add that to the stupid form and he jumped me."  
I blink at that new information. "Nathaniel and Amber are siblings? Yeesh... That explains a lot and yet doesn't explain anything."  
Castiel chuckles. "Yeah. I've known them since we were kids. Nathaniel was a real brat, always being mean to Amber and me."  
I think for a moment and decide to try and steer the subject away from Nathaniel. "I've never had friends for that long. We just settled in this town a few years ago and I don't talk to anyone from my old school. So technically you and Iris are the oldest friends I have."  
"That's... actually sort of pathetic."  
"I'm aware," I say as sarcastically as I can manage. "But you guys are what I've got and, for better or worse, you're stuck with me."  
He regards me for a second. "You're a real weird girl, you know that?"  
"Again, I'm aware." Remembering, I hand him the tupperware of cupcakes. "Here. Now who is in the basketball club?"  
He grins, takes a cupcake and licks off the frosting with one swipe of his tongue. "I am. Ready to go practice?"  
I stare at him for a moment before gently smacking his shoulder. "You're a butthead, you know that?"  
"Hey, I got cupcakes. I see no problem here."  
I roll my eyes and stand, offering him a hand up. He takes it and I have to struggle a little but I pull him up. He's standing close to me again with his calloused hand in mine. I never realized how much taller he is than me since he's mostly sitting when I see him. My head only comes up to his collarbone. I'm scared to glance up and look at him so I drop his hand and pick up my backpack and the cupcakes. "Let's go to club, shall we?"  
His voice is quiet. "Yeah. Let's go."  
Within five minutes of being in the basketball club I regret choosing sweat over dirt. First there are the stretches that have me dripping sweat by the time they're done. Then there are laps around the gym. And before actual drills can be started I, as the newbie, have to find some missing basketballs. I wonder if they went missing on purpose since they are in the most random places, like up in a tree and in one of the ground-level classrooms.

Dajan, the student coach and club president, takes this club way too seriously. He puts us through drills- layups, free throws, and the three-person weave are his favorites- until I feel ready to pass out. Everyone else in the club seems to be more fit than I am. I never thought of myself as being particularly unfit but these guys (and two other girls) are showing me up without even trying. Most of the time I can't even make a basket from three feet away.

"Your form is off," says Dajan, who I think has been watching me for awhile now. He tries to show me how I should be standing but my body doesn't seem to want to bend the way his is. He sighs and shakes his head, the beads decorating his dreds clicking softly. "Here. Let me." Before I can say anything he comes up behind me, his body wrapping around mine. His foot gently nudges mine to widen my stance and his hands cradle mine, holding the ball at a different angle. "Your left hand guides the ball," he murmurs. "Your right pushes. You don't use both or it spins the ball in the wrong direction." He moves away. "Try again."

I push with my right hand and keep my left still. The ball sails in a gentle arc and goes through the hoop with a quiet 'swish'. "I made one!" I yell, pleased with myself. I hold my hand up for a high five. "Thanks, coach." Dajan smiles and returns the high five before going off to help another group with their layups. I catch Castiel looking my way. He has yet another weird expression on his face. I quirk my brow at him, silently asking what's up. He shakes his head and goes back to shooting, sinking a three-pointer with practiced ease.

Club gets out a few minutes later and I head to the locker room to change. The other two girls in the club, Wendy and June, are pretty nice but they talk a lot. They ask tons of questions but barely let me answer them. I skirt around any questions they ask about my old school by bringing up Dajan. It's pretty obvious they're both in the club just so they can spend time with him. I have to reassure them that I'm also not after him.

"I'm not interested in a boyfriend right now," I say as I slip into my shirt (teal with a Muse logo across the chest) and jeans. "I'm still trying to adjust to this new school."

"Oh really?" Wendy says, straightening the white newsboy cap she's wearing over her pixie-cut hair. "Then why do you spend so much time with Castiel?"

"The whole school has noticed," chirps June. She brushes out her long black hair in the mirror before tying it back in a loose bun. "Especially Amber."

"Why would Amber care?" I ask.

"She totally has a thing for Castiel," Wendy says. "I can't believe you haven't noticed her glaring at you during home ec!"

"I just thought that was because I keep making fun of her pathetic excuses for baked goods," I mutter. They both giggle at that.

"Better watch out for her," June says. "She's been known to get nasty when she has competition for a boy."

"Castiel and I are just friends," I insist.

"Uh huh." June says. They both look skeptically at me. "Then why was he glaring daggers at Dajan when he was helping you with your form?"

"Probably pissed he missed the chance to tell me I was doing it wrong himself," I grumble.

"Exactly," Wendy says smugly. "He wanted to be the one helping you."

I think about it and have nothing to say so I just grab my things and bolt, the sound of Wendy and June's giggles echoing behind me.

I'm almost out of the gym when I'm grabbed from behind and slammed into a wall. "What the fu-?!" A hand wraps around my throat, partially cutting off my air.

"Stay AWAY from Castiel and Nathaniel," a voice hisses. I recognize Amber in the dim light. "Castiel is mine! And I don't know what you've done to my brother but all he talks about is you! If you know what's good for you you'll stay away from both of them!"

Oh. Hell. No. Not this crap again. Instead of being scared like I used to be, I get angry. I kick out and connect with her shin. She lets me go with a yelp of pain and clutches at her leg. I don't hit her again but I really, really want to. "Listen, you witch," I growl, rubbing at my sore throat. "Castiel and Nathaniel are my friends. My friendships are none of your freaking business. And if you even THINK about pulling another stunt like this again, I'll tell everyone what a pathetic loser YOU are for thinking you have any control over what your brother and Castiel do and think." With that, I walk away, trying to ignore the pain in my throat and the daggers from Amber's eyes. Time to go home, I think.

By the next morning the finger-shaped bruises on my throat are nice and purple. Dad freaked when he saw them last night and I had had to convince him it was an accident from club and no one meant to hurt me. It's not that I don't want Amber to pay, but I also don't want my parents involved. I am strong. I am not scared. Let no one take from me. Mantra. So instead of my usual t-shirt I wear a sleeveless turtleneck to hide the bruises. It's still a little warm for it but hopefully no one will notice.

I pray no one at school knows. But once I get there it's obvious that it's public knowledge. Everyone is in groups, whispering together. I hear mine and Amber's name mentioned in more than one group. I pretend not to notice and go to my locker to pick up my books.  
"Nico!" Iris comes jogging up, her face pink from running around looking for me. "Is it true? Did you really beat up Amber for hitting on Castiel?"  
"WHAT?!" I screech. As everyone in the hall turns to look at me, I blush and lower my voice. "That liar! She attacked me and warned me to stay away from him! And I've got the bruises to prove it!" I quickly show Iris the bruises on my neck. Her eyes widen and start to glisten with tears.  
"Oh my God. Are you ok?"  
"Aside from the bruises and apparently trashed reputation, I'm fine. What did you mean when you said she was beat up? I just kicked her on the shin once!"  
"She has bruises on her face and arms," Iris says. "And she's limping."  
"The limp I can believe but I didn't touch her face or her arms," I mutter. "Wanna bet that they're makeup?" Iris murmurs an agreement.  
"Good luck getting anyone to believe that," she says sadly. "Amber's told anyone who will listen that you're an abusive B-I-T-C-H who's jealous of anyone who gets near Castiel."  
"And, of course, as Miss Popular everyone believes her over the new girl." Iris nods again. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. This has gone way too far. "I need to talk to Nathaniel," I say. "I know I can probably talk sense into him. And Castiel. I doubt he would believe Amber's lies but they have known each other forever."  
"I think I saw Nathaniel in the student council room," Iris says.  
"Where else would he be? They practically have to kick him out of there at the end of every day," I say, making Iris giggle.  
Of course Nathaniel is in there, bristled as a pissed off porcupine. As soon as he sees me, his face reddens in anger. "How could you do that to Amber? All she did was-"  
"Yes, I've heard all about what I did to her," I snap, closing the door behind me so no one else sees this. "Did she happen to mention what she did to me?"  
"She didn't do anything but talk!"  
"Oh yeah?" I pull down my collar. "Tell that to the bruises that won't come off with water." He stares at my throat, his mouth hanging open. "Amber jumped me, not the other way around. I kicked her once to defend myself. I didn't touch her anywhere else though God knows she deserves it." Nathaniel just stares at the bruises on my neck. He reaches out and touches one, making me wince at the slight pain.  
"I can't believe it," he whispers. "She tried to choke you?"  
I nod. "Told me to stay away from you and Castiel if I, quote, 'knew what was good for me,' end quote." I fix my collar, hiding the bruises again. Though if this keeps up I may as well have worn a regular shirt today, if only to prove she's not the only injured one. "Your family is kind of messed up, huh?"

"I don't think I am," he says, the angry tone back in his voice.

I stare at him. "You picked a fight with Castiel yesterday over a form and him talking to your sister. Now you're trying to defend her for wanting to talk to him and hurting me. No offense, but I'm not sure you're completely sane either." He slumps into a chair like a puppet with its strings cut off, gaping at me with an confused and hurt expression on his face.

"I didn't-"

"Not done yet," I say firmly. "Amber has done nothing but be mean to me since I got here. But every time I try and tell you, you defend her. Frankly I'm not the one with a history of lying and being mean to get what I want. And I'm tired of all the excuses. She's gone too far this time."

Nathaniel just stares for a moment before slouching forward and resting his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Nico. I didn't know it was that bad."

"So fix it! Back me up, help me prove Amber is a liar."

"But she's my sister," he says helplessly. "How can I do that to her?"

"So you're going to leave me, your friend, to suffer?" I fight back tears. "I can't believe you. I thought you were all about justice and upholding rules. Apparently they only apply when it suits 're a coward." I move to leave but his hand grabs my wrist. "You do not want to touch me right now, Nathaniel," I say tonelessly. "Remember, I'm the crazy new girl. I could snap at any second. I've already hurt your sister, what's stopping me from hurting you?" Then he is hugging me from behind, clinging to me tightly.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "You're right. I'll help you. Let's go find Amber and expose her."

I sigh and lean back into him for a moment. "Thank you."

Amber is in the middle courtyard, weeping softly with a crowd of sympathetic people surrounding her. I stand away from the crowd so she won't notice me and cause a panic. Nathaniel, armed with a bottle of water, steps through the crowd to his sister.

She smiles tearfully at him. I have to admit, the bruise on her cheekbone is masterfully done. As are the fingerprint-sized ones inside her forearm. I can hear her voice from here; she must know some acting techniques to get it to carry like this. "There you are, Nathaniel. I was just telling everyone how you were going to tell the principal that the new girl should be expelled. I mean, after what she did to-" She is cut off by Nathaniel dumping the water on her head. She shrieks and the crowd gasps. Before she can do anything, he rubs his sleeve across her face, making that lovely bruise streak before fading entirely. He does the same thing to her arm while the now silent crowd watches. Amber is apparently shocked and says nothing, her mascara and eyeliner running down her cheeks. Nathaniel stares at her before speaking softly. Even though his voice doesn't carry, everyone in the courtyard is so quiet I can hear him from back here.

"Grow up, Amber. Stop trying to deceive everyone into thinking you're some sort of martyr. Nico is the only one who's actually hurt. Those bruises on her throat won't fade for weeks." The crowd gasps, appalled at the knowledge their goddess actually hurt someone. Not going to lie, I take some pleasure in watching her fall off the pedestal. "I'll see you at home." With that he leaves. The crowd leaves with him, leaving Amber alone with Lin and Charlotte on either side, sputtering excuses no one hears.

"Well, that was unexpected." I turn to see Castiel behind me, watching Amber start to rant at Charlotte and Lin. "Didn't think he had it in him."

"I may have insinuated he was crazy and a coward," I say with a grin. "I think he wanted to prove me wrong."

"Maybe," he says. He stares at me for a second before his fingers tug down my collar. He winces at the bruises. "Damn."

I shrug. "I've had worse." He starts at that. It's the first time I've mentioned something like that. Before he can ask, I say "I don't want to talk about it yet." He nods and pulls me into a one-armed hug.

"Let's ditch. Go to the park or see a movie or something."

I smile though he can't see it and nod, breathing in his scent and feeling safe. "I'd like that."


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3  
It does take a few weeks for the bruises to fade. I haven't worn a collared shirt since that first day, mostly to show people that I can't be pushed around. Partly because I want to keep rubbing it in Amber's nose. She hasn't spoken to me since Nathaniel showed her to be a liar in front of the entire school but I can feel her glaring death at me in class and in the halls. Nathaniel says she isn't speaking to him either but apparently this isn't unusual so their parents aren't questioning it. I still don't trust him but he's trying to earn it by being a good friend.  
Castiel and I haven't come close to kissing again in weeks. The last time was when we were hanging out over a weekend. We were in the park with our dogs when I tripped over his dogs' leash, fell and skinned my knee pretty bad. If it wasn't for the pain every time I tried to stand I would have found the situation way more amusing. He kept fluttering around me with a panicked look on his face. Eventually he found a band-aid and smoothed it into place. When he was done he smiled at me but then his face became more intense. I really thought he would kiss me then but he just picked me up and carried me to a bench to sit and rest while he played with the dogs. My pit bull mix, Maisie, had gotten along great with his big shepherd Demon. We now met every Sunday afternoon to let them play, but always at the park. I never go to his house and he never comes to mine.  
We are spending a ton of time together. He even eats lunch with Iris and mine's group of friends almost every day, though he doesn't talk much. We still spend our study period up on the roof by ourselves. He doesn't let anyone else up here. I have mixed feeling about this. One the one hand, it's one of the few places I can get any real peace (I live with a six year old brother and a snoopy mother. Privacy barely exists). And I get to spend some time with Castiel without an audience. He's so much sweeter when no one else is around.  
But on the other hand, hanging out with him this much is causing some unwanted feelings. Yes, I acknowledge he is really, dare I say it, sexy. He's sweet and patient with my math problems. But when other people are around, he's aloof and sarcastic in a mean way. I don't like this conflicting actions thing. My ex was like that, but the opposite. He was sweet and kind in public but behind closed doors he was mean as a snake and just as poisonous to my psyche. So Castiel acting this way causes some emotional turmoil for me. That and he hasn't even come close to kissing me in weeks and I still feel like I know nothing about him. Le sigh.  
"What's up?" Castiel asks, forcing me out of my thought zone. We are sitting up on the roof on top of a blanket I brought as it is starting to get colder. He is reading from his Lovecraft book again while I work on the rough draft of an English paper. I must have sighed out loud.  
"Paper," I say lamely. "This paper is killing me with boredom." He chuckles and goes back to his book. We sit with our backs to the sun-warmed wall, legs spread out in front of us. I grumble and go back to my paper. 19th-century literature really does bore me. The bell rings and we pack up. Castiel takes the blanket, shakes it out and folds it neatly before handing it to me. "Thanks," I say. "I'm going to go run and put this in my locker before home ec. We're making cherry pie today."  
"My favorite," he says with a grin. "You willing to share?"  
"Sure, better you eat it than me. My mom already makes so many pies at home I'm starting to get fat."  
"Nah, I think you're perfect just the way you are," he says casually. Before I can respond he has disappeared down the stairs.  
"Why does he always have to have the last word?" I grumble as a blush rises to my cheeks. I sigh and follow him down the stairs, losing him in the sea of students at the bottom. I fight through them to get to my locker but I notice something is off from down the hall. Someone has sprayed a bunch of rude words on my locker door in bright red paint. People stare as they walk by and I am frozen in shock. I mean, seriously? Spray painting my locker? This one wins no originality awards. I try to open the lock but someone has superglued it shut. I can't get in to put the blanket away or get my books to do my homework tonight. Peachy.  
"Nico, what happened?" Melody, a girl from my English class, has a locker a few down from me and has noticed my predicament. She gasps and blushes as she reads the words on my locker. "Oh my..."  
"That's a mild way to put it," I growl, jiggling my lock to try and get it open. "Any chance you know how to break into lockers?" She shakes her head no. "Yeah, I didn't think so." I sigh as the bell rings. "And now I'm late for class. Wonderful." I say goodbye to Melody and sprint down the hall with the blanket still clutched in my hands. I dash into the classroom but Mr. Houle has already started lecturing about different pie doughs. He frowns at the blanket and my dishelveled entrance.  
"Are you cold, Miss Grey?"  
"Sorry, Mr. Houle," I say as I take my place next to Iris, stuffing everything under the table. "My locker wouldn't open." A giggle from the back makes me turn and glare at Amber and Lin. Bet my bottom dollar Amber is behind this. I say as much to Iris once we start working and I can explain why I was late. She agrees with me.  
"I just want to get back at her somehow," I mutter as I take the pits out of cherries for the filling.  
"But that just brings you down to her level," Iris says. "You don't want to be like her, do you?"  
"No," I say begrudgingly. "But I can't just let it slide! She'll think she can keep doing this sort of thing."  
"Maybe you should talk to the principal?" Iris says as she rolls out the crust.  
"I don't want to look weak," I say.  
"But you don't want to be like Amber either."  
"Yeah...I'll talk to Nathaniel. See what he says."  
"That's a good idea," Iris grins. "Always be the better person, Nico."  
"Yeah..." I grumble, stirring the cherry filling a bit harder than I should and splattering juice onto my white shirt. "But being the better person only gets me bruised and stains on my new shirt."  
"The universe works in mysterious ways," Iris says serenely.  
"Well the universe can kiss my shiny metal a-"  
"Ashley!" Mr. Houle shouts. "Put that out before you burn the school down!" Ashley, a football player and one of the few boys in the class, has somehow set his crust on fire. And it isn't even in the oven yet.  
"I love home ec. Cooking is so relaxing."  
Iris giggles. "Just wait until we start the sewing section. Bet you a dollar someone sews their fingers together on the first day."  
"I hope it's Amber," I grumble, dabbing at the cherry juice stain on my shirt.  
I meet Castiel after school to give him the pie and complain about my locker and Amber. "I can't believe she did that! After all the trouble she got in for choking me and then pretending she was the victim she would have just left well enough alone."  
"She's a tenacious witch," says Castiel, taking a bite of the small pie. Cherry juice drips down his chin. "Always has been. When she wants something she takes it or keeps trying until she gets it."  
"So why doesn't she have you?" I ask, broaching a topic I've stayed away from out of fear of either him going off on me or hearing an answer I wouldn't like.  
He smirks. "Who said she hasn't?"  
I shudder. "That image is far too nasty to process. You and the mean queen of Sweet Amouris High."  
"Some would say we're a perfect match, since we both have problems with being nice," he says while licking cherry juice off his fingers.  
"I've never thought you guys were alike," I say. "So far as I can tell, she's always a witch. You're at least nice when we're alone." He stares at me after that. His gaze is intense and it makes me blush so I look away. "So, what do you think I should do about my locker?"  
"I'll find the maintenance guy and see if he can cut your lock off. Meet back by your locker?"  
"Yeah, sure." He starts to walk away but I notice something first. "Hey Castiel?" He turns back around. "You have cherry juice on your face." He grimaces and tries to wipe it off without success. I watch for a few minutes as he tries and fails a few more times. I sigh and act without thinking. "Here. Let me." I lick my thumb and use it to wipe off the red smudge right on his jaw. I freeze. Oh crap on toast, what did I just do?! I stare up at him, scared to move. He stares back at me, his lips slightly parted in surprise. My hand is still on his jaw and neither of us are moving. Finally, after what seems like a century of use standing and staring at each other, I pull away and pray the setting sun is hiding my blush. "There you go. All clean." Aanndd I sound like I'm talking to my little brother. Hellfire and brimstone.  
He jolts a little at my voice, like he wasn't really hearing me. "Oh. Ah, thanks, Nico."  
"No problem." We're still staring at each other. "Um... Maintenance guy?"  
"Huh? Oh, right, yeah, ok...Um, see you at your locker then." He stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets and marches away, back rigid like he's expecting an attack. I watch him until he disappears behind a corner.  
"Smooth move, Nico," I whisper to myself. "Now you're never going to be able to look him in the eye without blushing again." I sigh and head back inside. Maybe I can try cleaning off some of the paint while I wait. And try and erase the memory of how warm Castiel's face was in my hand.  
I find some spray and towels in the janitor's closet (which is never locked for some reason) and go to work, furiously working out some tension as I scrub. The paint is stubborn and won't come off unless I really put some muscle behind it. Thankfully, the physical exertion puts Castiel at the far corner of my thoughts. I keep scrubbing, focusing on getting off the paint and keeping my thoughts clear, when a loud bang from down the hall startles me into dropping my spray bottle. Of course the top opens and my Converse are doused in cleaning solution.  
"Triple hellfire and bloody brimstone!" I curse, shaking my feet to get most of the liquid off. I look up to try and see the source of the noise and see a figure turning a corner away from me. "Hey!" I yell and start to jog that way. "What are you doing here?" Most everyone should be gone by now. It's Wednesday so there are no club activities. It's getting dark and the lights have been turned off on this side of the school. So why is someone walking quickly away from me? "Hey!" I call again, running now. "What- Oh for goodness sake."

I've run into a dead end. There's nothing down this hall but more lockers and a door that I assume leads to a classroom. I check the door but it is locked. Unless that person had a key there is no way they're on the other side of this door. And it's really dark down here. There are no windows and the lights are off. I'm starting to freak out. Dark places aren't really my thing. Then, just when I'm starting to calm myself down, something grabs my elbow. I scream like a little girl and sprint down the hall as fast as my short legs can carry me. I keep running until I'm back in the main hall where the lights are on and the bottle of cleaning solution I dropped has spread into a shiny puddle all over the floor. I am panting, out of breath when I hear Castiel's voice.

"Nico, I found the- what the hell did you do?"

I glare at him, still trying to catch my breath. "Not-" gasp "My-" gasp "Fault-" gasp "Someone-" gasp "Scared me-" gasp "and I-" gasp "dropped the bottle."

He grins wryly at me. "And that made you out of breath?"

I take one deep breath. "I ran after them but I lost them and it was dark and then something grabbed me and I ran back here." BIG GASP. He and the maintenance man are looking at me like I'm insane. The maintenance man just shakes his head and takes his huge pair of bolt cutters to my lock, muttering about crazy kids and their horror movie obsessions that make us jump at the smallest things.

Castiel chuckles softly and hands me a wad of paper towels. "Here. Since you made the mess you can clean it up." I glare at him again and start mopping up the mess while he watches. He speaks softly to the maintenance man about getting me a new lock and some paint-dissolving solvent in the morning. It seems the most I've done to the paint is irritate it since the words are as bright and rude as ever. Then the maintenance man leaves, saying he will turn off the lights in a few minutes and we should start heading out. Castiel nods but just keeps watching me clean up the floor. Finally I get tired of this and snap at him.

"You could help instead of standing around like a lawn ornament."

"I'm not the one who spilled the whole bottle," he says with a smirk. "Besides, you're doing such a good job on your own."

I growl at him. "Then could you at least grab my books so I can get home sometime before it gets really dark?" He sighs dramatically but does as I ask, putting all the books and the blanket into my bag much neater than I would have. He even swings it over his shoulder and offers me a hand up.

"You ready?"

I eye the floor. It's fairly clean and doesn't look slippery anymore. I nod and take his hand. But as soon as I pull myself up I slip and fall right into him. Fortunately he is strong and catches me before either of us can fall to the floor. He holds me for a moment with his arm around my shoulders, making sure I am steady. "You're a bit of a klutz, aren't you?" he whispers against my hair. I blush and instinctively hide my face in his chest so he can't see. He smells like warm leather and the sun with a hint of cigarette smoke. I can feel him tugging at one of my green strands of hair. "Your color is fading."

"Yeah, I know," I mutter. "I'm thinking of dying it back."

"To what?"

"Brown."

He thinks a moment before replying. "Brown is too plain. It wouldn't suit you."

I nod. "I think so, too. But it would make my dad happy." I pull away from him, not looking at his face. "I should get home before he sends out the National Guard." Castiel grunts an agreement and starts walking towards the exit, my backpack still over his shoulder. I follow him to the gate and silently take my bag. I go one way, he goes the opposite. And my heart is still pounding from when he caught me.

All that night I am bothered by what had grabbed me in that hall. And by Castiel holding me. But mostly by what had grabbed my elbow. Really.

I know I had seen someone walking down that hall. That door was locked and no one has keys but the faculty, Nathaniel and Castiel. I can rule out Castiel because he was with the maintenance man at the other end of school. I don't think it was a teacher because they all like to leave as soon as the bell rings on Wednesdays since no one has clubs. That leaves Nathaniel. But I really doubt it was him. Why would he have scared me like that? He would have at least said my name to warn me he was there first. Maybe it was Amber trying to play another prank on me. But she isn't the type to stick around school that late on a Wednesday. So my final option is (I hate to say it) a ghost. And I believe in ghosts about as much as I believe in the Tooth Fairy.

As soon as I get to school I am looking for that hallway again. I'm still not used to this school, rarely venturing out of the places I haven't been. But I wanted a closer look. Maybe I had just brushed up against something I hadn't seen and freaked out because it was dark. I can't find the hall and am getting amazingly frustrated when I run into Nathaniel coming out of the teacher's lounge. "Good morning Nico," he says with a happy smile. "How are you?"

"Been better," I mutter. "Do you know where I can find a dead end hallway with one door?"

Nathaniel blinks at me, confused. "Here or somewhere else?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Here, of course. I saw something last night and followed it to a dead end hallway with some lockers and one door. Something grabbed me and I want to find out what."

"It wasn't Amber this time," he says thinly, like he expects me to accuse her again. "She's grounded so we went straight home after class."

"I didn't think it was," I lie. Shoot. Another good suspect ruled out. "And you don't need to keep defending her. Unless she does something to me again I plan to just ignore her until graduation."

Nathaniel blushes and tugs at his tie. "Sorry. But she's my sister. Old habits, you know?"

"Yeah, I've got a little brother. I know how it is."

He smiles at me. "Thanks Nico."

"But you wouldn't happen to know if she was the one who vandalized my locker, do you?"

He shakes his head. "I wouldn't put it past her but I doubt it was her. She's in enough trouble right now, I don't think she wants to be suspended or expelled on top of it."

"Wouldn't stop her from asking someone to, though," I say. Nathaniel shrugs. "So, hallway?" I ask.

"The only place I can think of is right behind the stairs on the first floor. It dead ends and there's nothing but an old storage room and lockers."

"Sounds like the place." I smile at him. "Thanks Nathaniel. I'll let you know if I find anything." We say our goodbyes and I'm off, jogging down the hall so I can look before the first bell rings. Sure enough, there is the hallway, tucked behind the stairs so it's barely noticeable at first glance. How the heck had I found my way here in the mostly dark? The hall looks unused with lockers that are faded and rusty from disuse. The door is still locked and there are no windows that someone could have snuck in by. All in all, I don't think someone could have gotten grabbed me without my noticing them first. "Get a grip, Nico," I mutter to myself. "There is no such things as ghosts." Just then the lights flicker and a clicking comes from one of the lockers. Not wanting to press my luck, I bolt, flying up the stairs and knocking into people as I go. I arrive to class a full ten minutes early, sweaty and shaking. Yeah, I don't believe in ghosts. That doesn't mean they don't scare me.

I was so distracted in class even Castiel couldn't get my attention. He had to whisper-yell my name three times before poking me with the pointy end of his pencil. This makes me yelp loud enough that Miss French stops talking and the whole class turns to stare at me. I blush and slide down into my chair, praying I'll spontaneously become invisible. Castiel has to fight back laughter and I'm thinking maybe if I kill him no one will remember that noise I made that sounded like a dog being stabbed. As soon as class is over I flee the room and head to the bench where we usually sit to have lunch. Iris and Kim are there already with Travis and Luke. Travis is Iris' cousin and Luke is Kim's new boyfriend. They are disgustingly cute with each other, always holding hands and giggling and calling each other weird nicknames like cuddlebear and smoocher woocher. I try to imagine calling Castiel by a name like that. He would probably laugh until he passed out.

I flop down on the grass near the bench and try not to shiver. It's cold today and the ground if freezing but there's no room on the bench. "Anyone know if there's a ghost here at Sweet Amouris High?" Everyone stares blankly at me for a moment. Even Kim and Luke stop feeding each other bits of fruit to look at me. Finally Travis breaks out laughing and the rest soon follow.

"Seriously Nico?" he asks. "A ghost?"

"I'm serious!" I say, throwing my balled up napkin at him. "Now stop laughing before I turn you over my knee." Travis is a sophomore and is even shorter than I am. He and Iris have the same eyes but his hair is light brown to her red. And despite the lack of height, he's built like a barrel and could probably throw me over a fence with no problem.

He grins at me and takes a huge bite out of his sandwich. "As if you could," he mumbles around a mouthful of banana and peanut butter.

"Watch me," I say, grinning back at him. "But seriously, here's what happened..." I tell my story yet again and everyone keeps their attention on me. Iris even jumps a little when I tell them how something had grabbed me. However, I leave out the part about Castiel catching me. Private feelings are private, ok?

"I think someone mentioned a ghost my freshman year," Kim says as she tickles Luke's nose with a blade of grass. "Some student who failed a test and jumped off the roof rather than go home in shame."

"Man, if I jumped off the roof every time I failed a test I would be dead at least twenty times by now," Luke jokes, his grey eyes crinkling at the corners. Kim giggles and gently strokes his dark hair away from his face.

"I heard it was a teacher who taught for so long when she died she just kept coming back," Travis says.

"I don't think there's a ghost at all," Iris says, ever the practical one. "Are you sure someone didn't sneak up on you?"

I shake my head. "I don't think so. The hallway is a dead end and the door was locked."

"Maybe they had a key?"

"The only ones with keys are teachers and Nathaniel. And he wasn't there because Amber had to go home right after school."

"What about Castiel?" Travis asks.

I shake my head. "I think his key only works on the door to the roof. Besides, he was on the other end of school with the maintenance guy."

"But it couldn't have been a ghost!" Iris exclaims. "There's no such thing!"

"Yeah..." I mumble, poking at my salad with my fork. "I guess."

I get nothing done during bio or study period. Castiel tries to help me with my homework but just gets frustrated when I start talking about ghosts for the third time in twenty minutes. The fourth time makes him snap. "Christ, woman!" he growls, throwing his pencil down. "You're going to fail the test tomorrow if you don't concentrate!"

"Well if I fail I won't throw myself off the roof in shame. Like that one ghost."

"That's it," he growls. He stands and starts heading towards the door.

"Hey!" I shout. "Where are you going?"

"I dunno. Anywhere. Not like you're paying attention to what I have to say anyway."

"Aww, come on, Castiel," I whine, grabbing the hem of his coat before he can walk away. "I'm just curious about what happened. I am paying attention, truly!"

"BS," he mutters, trying to pull away. "Tell me about supplementary angles."

"Uh... Well, they're the things that make a triangle?"

He makes a noise like a fail buzzer. "Nope. See, you're not paying attention." He's still trying to pull away. "Now let go of me."

"No," I say, pouting. "Come sit back down with me. Study period isn't over yet. Please?" He sighs and sits back down but at the other end of the blanket, as far from me as he can get without being completely off. If he were my little brother I would say he's pouting. Time to break out my secret weapon. I had planning on using these to bribe him into exploring the hallway with me again after club but this seems to be a better time. "Oh Castiel," I say in a singsong voice. "Look what I have for yyooooouuuu..." I ignore his wince from my cutesy tone and pull out a container filled with miniature hand pies in all different flavors. "It's piiieeeeesss... Made especially for yyoooouuuuu... All you have to dooooooooo... Is stop being a grumpy Giiiiillllllllll...Because it's a wonderful day for piiiieeeeeeee!"

He stares at me for a moment before he breaks out laughing, a great deep belly laugh I can only get out of him if I make a complete fool of myself. Eventually he stops, actually wiping a tear from his eye from laughter. "Christ, Nico, you really can't sing."

"Yeah, but I like to pretend sometimes." I hold the container out towards him. "Seriously. Pie. Cherry, lemon and chocolate." I rattle the container gently. "I know you want them."

His gaze switches from me to the box and back a few times before he makes up his mind. He reaches out and grabs the other end of the container, pulling it gently away. "Thanks Nico."

I smile. "You're welcome." I don't think I'll bother him about helping me find the ghost tonight. I'll go on my own.

Home ec passes quickly (we're making real food now; chicken curry and rice today) and with no major fires or burns. I leave quickly to get all my things out of my locker before I'm late for club and frown at the nasty words still painted on the metal surface. Guess the maintenance man didn't have time to paint over them today. But at least the lock isn't superglued shut this time. I grab my things and head to the gym to change, meeting up with Wendy and June halfway there. We've struck up an easy friendship since that first day of club and we chat as we get ready.

Once we've arrived, Dajan has us warm up and start practicing our passing. As usual, I pair with Castiel. He's way better than I am but he swears that I am improving. At least the ball doesn't go careening off in random directions anymore where I try to pass it. I keep glancing at the clock, waiting for club to end so I can explore that hallway again. Fortunately I don't take a basketball to the head despite my wandering attention. As soon as club is over I bolt, grabbing my things from the locker room and running back towards the school. Hopefully the clubs that meet indoors aren't done yet and the school isn't locked up. Fortunately one of the side entrances is open and I slip in. The lights are still on but it's getting darker outside. I head for that hallway and see nothing I haven't already seen. I sigh and absently tug at my hair. "Come on, ghost. Where are you?"

"I can assure you, there is no ghost." The bored-sounding voice comes out of nowhere and makes me yelp in surprise and drop my backpack with a loud 'thunk'. The door to the supposedly locked classroom stands open and frames a tall boy with silver hair in a long coat. He's wearing what looks like a shirt with a ruffled cravat and long pants with low-heeled boots. He looks at me with an expression a cat might have when looking at a slightly interesting toy. "Only me."

"If you're not a ghost then why are you wearing something that belongs in the nineteenth century?"

He stiffens slightly and his voice has even less inflection than before. "How I prefer to dress is not your concern or your business. Now tell me, what are you doing here at this time of evening?"

"Looking for whatever grabbed me yesterday. And I could ask you the same question. Do you even go to this school?"

"Yes. I am Lysander. And I apologize for startling you last night, that was not my intention."

Yeesh, the guy sounds like Mr. Spock but with half the charm. "Lysander. Nice to meet you, I guess." Then his words sink in. "Wait. YOU grabbed me? But that door was locked! How did you sneak by me?"

"I unlocked it," he says simply. "I tried to call after you but you were running and did not hear me."

I fight back a blush. "Apparently. You really shouldn't go around scaring people like that."

"Indeed."

"Where did you get a key, anyway?"

"From me." I whirl around and there is Castiel. He's still in his club uniform of red basketball jersey and shorts, his hair pulled back into a low tail to keep it out of his face. "Yeesh, Nico, when you said abandoned hallway you should have mentioned it was this one."

"Like there are a ton more at this school," I mumble, making Castiel chuckle.

"Ah. So you are the girl Castiel keeps talking about," Lysander says, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. "So nice to finally meet you."

I smirk at Castiel, enjoying his blush. "Been talking about me to other guys, huh?"

"Lysander's my band mate," Castiel says, avoiding the question.

"I didn't know you were in a band."

He smirks now. "You never asked." I roll my eyes and slip past Lysander into the open door. The room it leads too looks like an abandoned music room. There is soundproofing material on the walls and no windows. A drum kit, guitar, keyboard and mike are set up in the middle of the room, along with some speakers.

"Nice," I say. "But why practice here?"

Lysander shrugs. "Whyever not? It suits our purpose."

"Plus it's free so long as no one else knows about it," Castiel says, leaning against the doorframe. "If you catch my drift."

I sigh dramatically. "Wow Castiel. This makes two of your secret places you've shown me. What's next? An abandoned amusement park? A secret lab where you piece together monsters out of small animals?" Lysander actually laughs, albeit very softly and with little expression, at this and Castiel has to fight to keep the smile off his face. "Fine, I won't tell. On one condition." Both boys raise an eyebrow at me, almost in perfect sync. "Let me jam with you sometime. I miss playing with other people."

"What do you play?" Castiel says. "And how come you never mentioned it before?"

"Piano, but I can pick out a few chords on a guitar. And you never asked."

He grins and holds up his hands in defeat. "Got me there, Nico."

"A pianist would be a welcome addition," Lysander says. "Thus far it is only Castiel and I. Castiel plays guitar and I sing."

"Cool," I say with a grin. Before I can say more my phone vibrates from its pocket in my shorts. I pull it out and see I have missed a call and three texts from my mother wondering where I am and do I know it's getting dark young lady? I sigh and flip my phone close. "Not tonight though. My mother is freaking out. I gotta get home before she convinces Dad to send out the national guard for me."

Castiel grins and gestures for me to follow him. "I'll walk you. Lysander, I'll be back in a few. Start warming up." Lysander nods and murmurs a brief goodbye to me before he starts humming. I assume it's part of his warm up routine.

I follow Castiel out of the school. He glances around a few times to make sure no one sees us. At the gate (which is thankfully still open) he reaches down and takes my hand. He starts walking towards my house without a word, his gaze fixed firmly on the road ahead. I stumble along behind him at first, shocked that he's holding my hand, but I quickly lengthen my pace so I'm walking beside him. I think about speaking a few times but the words all die in my throat. Finally I decide to just walk. Hopefully the blush is hidden by the lack of light.

He stops lets go of my hand at the end of my street. "Listen, I won't be in school tomorrow." He must see my confused look because he actually explains. "Family stuff. Mom and Dad are gracing me with their presence. But Saturday is the school Halloween fair. Want to meet up?"

"Um, sure," I stammer. "I'll be helping Iris at the snack booth in the afternoon. But I'm not doing anything in the evening."

"Cool. I'll text you." He smiles and starts walking away. "See you then."

"Yeah, see you then," I whisper. I watch him until he turns the corner back towards the school. He doesn't look back at me at all. I stand outside in the cool air a few minutes more so my face will cool down and my hands will stop shaking.

"What the hell just happened?"


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4  
I spend all of Friday fretting. I fret about my test. I think I passed. I fret about my locker, which has finally been repainted. I fret about my costume. What the hell am I going to wear? I think about texting Castiel and asking him what he's planning on dressing up as. But I worry that seems too clingy. Honestly, I fret the most about him. How he grabbed my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world and then said nothing about it. NOTHING. I am so confused right now. Finally I feel like I am about to burst and drag Iris and Kim away from the group during lunch. I tell them everything, from Castiel catching me when I slipped to meeting Lysander and Castiel taking my hand as he walked me home. Iris actually squeals like a girl and grabs my hands.  
"Nico, that's great! He's finally coming around!"  
"I'm not totally sure about that-"  
"Of course he is!" Kim says with a grin. As she says each point, she ticks it off on her fingers. "One. He's shown you his secret place. Two. He helps you with math every day. Three. He goes out of his way to spend time with you during lunch and after school. Four. He's physically affectionate with you which I have NEVER seen from him with any other girl he's been with."  
"Wah... Wait, how many other girls have there been?"  
She waves her hand impatiently at me. "My point is, he's being NICE to you! Castiel is never nice! So he must like you. That's why he held your hand."  
"Well when you put it that way," I mutter, nervously smoothing down my hair. I re-bleached it last night and put in streaks of black in place of the green, blue and pink. Very Halloween. "It's just..."  
"What? You like him too," Iris says, her eyes misting over. Iris is a bit of a romantic. "You should tell him at the fair. They're going to shoot off fireworks when it gets dark. It will be so romantic!"  
I bite my lip. "But I don't think I'm ready," I whisper. "Castiel's been great but I just don't... I can't..." I choke a little and blink rapidly to fight back tears.  
Kim and Iris share a look. Iris squeezes my hands and speaks in a gentle tone. "Nico, we know you haven't been willing to talk much about your old school. But maybe if you told us we could help share your burden. And if you're still not ready to talk, we understand."  
I regard them for a moment, still worrying my lip between my teeth. Am I ready to tell them? They've been great friends for the past two month. But some of those people had been my friends for years and they still turned against me. But my heart tells me I can at least trust these two. So I nod, take a deep breath, and talk.  
"Last year, right after Christmas break, I finally managed to ask out the guy I liked. His name is Jacob and he's the football star and student council president at my old school. Everything was great for a few weeks. I mean, he was sweet and he brought me presents and was generally perfect. But soon he started trying to change me. Made me wear skirts and dresses and act more girly. I wanted him to be happy so I did what he asked. But it wasn't enough. He didn't change in front of the school but when we were alone all he did was yell and criticize. My hair was never done right, my skirt was too short, I had corrected him in front of his friends and embarrassed him. Before long he was... Doing more than yelling." Iris, who already looked pale, turned grey. Even Kim's dark skin had a pale cast. Before I lost my nerve, I kept talking.  
"He didn't hit me. But he would grab and leave bruises. And I kept making excuses for him because I thought I loved him. And I thought he loved me. Right before junior prom, everything changed again. He was sweet all the time, not just when there were people around. I thought he was ok again. He even rented a limo for prom. But halfway through, I left to use the bathroom and heard some of the popular girls talking. They didn't know I was there. One of them, Claire, started laughing about how pathetic I was for not realizing Jacob was only using me for one thing and he would leave me as soon as he had it. I didn't think much of it because she had always had a thing for Jacob and he'd always defended me to her. But after prom, Jacob took me to a hotel. He tried to... You know. I wouldn't let him so he got angry and hit me. Tried to get me to drink some drugged water. Instead I got away.  
"By the next day everyone at school knew Jacob's side of the story. He told them I was a slut and a tease and had lead him on so I could be popular. No one believed me, even when it got out he had been cheating on me with Claire. They all believed him. Even my friends who had known me since I moved there freshman year. No one talked to me anymore. Some of the teachers even started failing me because Jacob was the star and I had hurt him. The only ones who did believe me were my parents and they complained to the school for months. Every complaint was ignored. Finally they agreed the school wouldn't do anything so they moved us out here to my aunt's old house. And I spent the summer in therapy. And then I came here."  
They are silent for a moment before they envelop me in a group hug. Poor Iris is crying and Kim looks like she's ready to punch something.  
"Girl, if I ever get near that SOB I will kick his nads so hard his children will feel it." This makes both Iris and I giggle. They pretend they don't see the tears in my eyes.  
"Thank you for telling us, Nico," Iris says.  
"Yeah, thanks for trusting us," Kim says. She releases from the group hug and stretches her arms above her head. "I don't know about you girls but I am ready to ditch and go have some ice cream. You all in?"  
"I am," Iris says with a smile. "How about you, Nico? We can go costume shopping afterward."  
I smile back, immensely grateful I met these two. "Yeah. Ice cream and costume shopping it is."  
After we stealthily retrieve our things from our lockers, Kim drives us into town. She's the only one with a car since Iris and I live close to school. We stop at an ice cream parlor downtown and share a Kitchen Sink Sundae (ten scoops of ice cream with all the toppings!) before heading down to an out of the way shop that Kim swears has great clothes for low prices. The shop is small and smells like a mix of tea and cinnamon. There is only one guy at the front. He wears a coat that looks remarkably like the one Lysander was wearing last night but purple. I wonder if Lysander shops here. The shopkeep also has that same bored expression Lysander seems so fond of. "Good afternoon, ladies. What can I do for you?"  
"Hey Leigh," Kim chirps, heading straight for a rack of shirts. "We're here for Halloween costumes. Got anything good for us?"  
He nods and almost smiles. I can see the corners of his mouth turn up. "I may have put a few aside for my best customer."  
"Oh yeah," Kim says, gleefully rubbing her hands together. "Hit me, baby." Leigh nods and heads behind a curtain at the back of the store.  
"So, come here often?" Iris teases.  
"Every time I get my allowance," Kim says with a smirk. "Leigh cuts me a good deal most of the time. He makes a lot of the specialty pieces himself and he appreciates when he knows they go to good homes." Leigh's voice calls out from the back, asking Kim to flip the sign on the door to closed while we're back there. She complies and we head back. My breath catches at the sight of Leigh's workroom. Fabric is stored in a shelving unit that emcompasses an entire wall. The opposite wall from that has one long workbench with three sewing machines. However, it's the wall opposite the door that gets my attention. It's one large wall of windows that look out into the forest behind the town. Light comes in, making the space seem larger than it is. In the middle of the room are several dress forms in different sizes and two racks full of clothes. Kim and Iris go straight for the clothes while I just stare out the windows. It looks so peaceful out there in the forest.  
"Nico, look at this one!" Kim calls. She holds out a purple dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that poofs out into a circle. The outfit is complete with iridescent wings and a wand and crown.  
I wrinkle my nose. "Ick. No dresses for me, please." Kim shrugs and keeps browsing, muttering to herself.  
"Ooo, I like this one!" Iris says, holding a long green gown with a straight skirt and dragging sleeves in front of her. There is a stripe of embroidered gold flowers and leaves down the front and more embroidery on the hems of the skirt and sleeves.  
"Oh, Iris," I gasp. "You'll look just like a Irish princess in that dress." She giggles and twirls towards a mirror, looking at her reflection.  
"May I suggest these?" Leigh asks, holding out a gold circlet and slippers to Iris. She smiles and nods and takes both, ducking behind a curtain to try them on.  
"THIS is mine!" Kim squeals. She holds up a bullfighter costume made of a plush plum material. The jacket is heavily embroidered in silver thread and there is a matching stripe down the side of the leggings. A white ruffle shirt and stockings complete the outfit. "I have the perfect shoes for these." She sashays to another curtained-off dressing area, smartly flicking the curtain closed. Leaving me alone with Leigh. Who looks at me like a mildly interesting wall of paint drying.  
I sigh. "Look, I'll be honest with you dude. I burned all my skirts and dresses a few months ago. I know nothing about costumes. So if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears."  
I think I surprise him because he chuckles softly before regaining his stoic composure. He shuffles a few things around the rack before pulling something out and holding it out for my inspection. "How about this?" I regard the outfit for a moment before breaking out in a huge grin. It is a jester outfit made of a soft black and white material. The bodice is split in half, one side black and the other white. It's cut low but there is a separate collar that goes around the neck and prevents a lot of cleavage showing. Long pants, also half black and half white, a hat with two long tails and parti-colored fingerless gloves finish the outfit.  
"Ok, pretty boy. You're good." He just nods and holds out the outfit.  
"You will have to wait to try it on. Your friends are occupying my only dressing rooms."  
"I'm actually done," Iris says, pulling the curtain back. The gown fits her perfectly. She has let her hair down from her usual braid so it hangs in loose waves down her back. It's held back from her face with the gold circlet. She really does look like a Irish princess stepped out of a storybook.  
"Oh, that's perfect!" I cry. "You look lovely."  
"Check ME out!" Kim says, whipping her curtain back with a flourish and striking a pose. The bullfighter outfit fits her tighter than anything I would have worn but she looks comfortable. She's found a little black hat that perches jauntily on top of her hair. The collar of the jacket frames her chest and the ruffles help... Accentuate. But that's Kim. Very flashy. "All I need is a red cape and I'm good to go!"  
"Very nice Kim," I say. "Now if you'll excuse me..." I hip check her out of the curtained off area and close the curtain in her surprised face. I giggle as I change out of my sweater and jeans, ignoring the voices on the other side of the curtain telling me to hurry it up. I pull the costume on and have to wiggle a bit to get the pants on over my hips and fasten the side zipper. I look at myself in the mirror in the room and take a moment to admire my reflection. The material looks like it would cling to my skin but it is lined with a thin cotton so it's actually quite comfortable. It's a more clingy outfit than I would usually wear but I actually like it. The hat is fun to play with and there are tiny bells attached to the tips. The long bodice is boned slightly and is a bit tight so it emphasizes my chest area but covers me down to my hips. Then I turn around and gulp as I look at my backside. My already large-ish rear is now very, VERY there. "Um, guys? I don't think I can wear this."  
"Let me see," Kim says, sliding the curtain open before I can protest. Her eyes actually widen when she sees my rear. "Sweet mother of badonkadonk. Where have you been hiding that?"  
I blush and pull the hat lower over my forehead. "In my pants?"  
"Oh yeah, Castiel is going to LOVE this!" Kim grins. "You're getting it."  
"You don't think it's a bit... Much?"  
"Not at all," Iris says. "Really, it's not indecent at all. And it goes with your hair. You look great."  
"I feel... Bulgy."  
"In a GOOD way," Kim says. "Girl, if I had that butt I'd be showing it off every second of every day." This makes Iris and Leigh chuckle and me blush even more. "Leigh, we'll take these. What do we owe you?" As they discuss prices, Iris tilts her head at me in a silent question. I fiddle with the gloves that come up almost to my biceps for a moment.  
"I'm covered but I feel so... Exposed. I never wear anything this tight."  
"But it's Halloween," Iris says. "You can get away with it. And you really do look fantastic."  
I smile at her. "You do, too. And at least it isn't a skirt I guess." Iris giggles and plays with the rich fabric of her skirt.  
"Ok girls, we are good to go!" Kim says. "Pack 'em up and roll 'em out!" With that she shoves me back out of the changing area so she can get back into her street clothes. I sigh as I am once again left alone with Leigh.  
"So... Got any shoe suggestions?"  
"Black flats would be appropriate."  
"And will be less of a hazard to my health than heels. Thanks Leigh."  
He gives me another of those half smiles and bows his head. "Not at all. If you ever need any other help with clothing, please feel free to stop by."  
I smile back. He's rather nice for all his stilted manners and lack of facial expressions. "I will."  
Once the costumes are off, paid for and packed into bags, Kim takes us both home. We promise to meet up at her place the next morning to get ready and so she can do our makeup and hair. I take Maisie for a long walk that tires her out and helps me to think over everything that's happened the last few days. Castiel has been acting more... something towards me. I'm hesitant to use romantic. But he's definitely more friendly. And since I talked to Kim and Iris about my last relationship I feel a lot lighter. More accepting of a potential new relationship. So I take Maisie home, have dinner with my family, do my homework, and go to bed relatively happy.  
The next morning I get a text from Kim saying to meet at the school instead. Apparently there was a mild explosion at her place and she needs to get out. Her mom is a self proclaimed culinary chemist so small explosions that smell like tomato bisque are apparently common. I bike to school with my costume in my backpack and find that most of the booths are already set up by the time I get there. The main courtyard has booths lining three sides with different school groups representing each booth. The art club has a booth for face painting, the theatre group has turned the main hallway into a haunted tour and the gardening club has, of all the random things, a Japanese-style goldfish scooping game. Weird. But those of us in sports clubs have been conscripted into helping at the various booths, including the snack bar. The cooking club is really in charge but they needed some extra help so they pulled helpers wherever they could. Iris is helping here too since the music club is helping the theater club with the haunted house and they had too many people.  
I find Kim in one of the classrooms artfully painting a sign with fake blood. "So you mom exploded tomato bisque?"  
She sighs. "Yeah. She really needs to stop using liquid nitrogen and blowtorches at the same time." She turns the sign towards me. "What do you think? Too much?" The sign says 'Your doom is imminent. Turn back now or face eternal torment'. There is fake blood spattered on one corner, like someone had used it to bludgeon someone.  
"No, I like it," I say. "Very Halloween."  
She grins at me and leans the sign against the blackboard to dry. "Anyway, I have been informed that you can't work the food booth in your costumes. So I'll have to doll up you and Iris when the parents and faculty take over the booths."  
"Fine, I guess," I say. "How's the haunted house going?"  
"Great! It should be really scary. Though the club president won't let me dump blood on random people as they walk around."  
"Yeah, that would be a little much," I say with a grin. "I'll text you when Iris and I are done."  
"I'll be here, painting signs and putting on makeup," she says. "Leave your costume here with mine. Don't want you spilling something on it."  
"Thanks," I say and hand her my backpack after tucking my phone and wallet into my jeans pockets. "See you in a few hours."  
By the time I get to the snack booth it seems like most of the town has shown up for our faire. Fortunately the snack booth is fairly simple to take care of. I man the front for the most part, handing people their snacks and taking payment while the cooking club actually makes the food. Iris is with me most of the time though she ducks into the back every once in awhile to help out. My parents even make an appearance with my brother for a few minutes before Tyler, dressed as a Power Ranger for the third year in a row, freaks out at the haunted house and has to be taken home to change.  
By the time my shift is over I'm nervous and jittery. I still haven't gotten a message from Castiel saying when he will meet me. And I'm pretty sure I smell like grease from all the fried food I handled. I grab Iris and flee the booth the second our four hours are up. "Please tell me I don't smell like grease," I plead.  
She leans over and sniffs me in an exaggerated fashion. "No, you smell fine. Now come on, let's get ready."  
Kim is already ready by the time we get there, tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. "Finally! I've been ready for you guys forever!"  
I glance at the clock. Exactly three minutes have passed since our shifts ended. "Kim, it's been three minutes."  
"Exactly! Forever! Luke and I are supposed to meet up in half an hour! And you and Castiel have a date as well!"  
"If he ever texts me," I say, looking at my phone for the hundredth time today. "Radio silence since Thursday."  
"He'll show," Iris says. "He's never let you down before."  
I shrug in response and grab my costume. "Let's get ready."  
Kim is a freaking makeup genius. She looks like a dark-skinned Spanish beauty, her short hair curled into ringlets with her little hat perched on top. She applies just enough lipstick to look sultry and mysterious and her eyes are huge with thick lashes and lots of eyeliner. She applies Iris' makeup with a lighter hand, bringing out the soft color of her eyes and blushing her cheeks until she looks like a Disney princess. I seriously expect small animals to start following her around before breaking into song. Iris' hair is left loose and bound back with the circlet from yesterday. I'm seriously envious of her hair. My own baby fine locks would never be that color, even if I dyed it.  
Kim, thankfully, doesn't put too much makeup on me. She lines my top eyelid in black and my lower in white. She uses liquid liner to draw black and white diamonds under my eyes down my cheeks so it looks like I am crying diamonds. My mouth she stains a bright red to contrast with all the black and white. For a finishing touch, she lends me a anklet with bells on it so I jingle when I walk. I slip into the plain black ballet flats I brought to wear with before twirling in front of the mirror, making the bells on my hat and ankle jingle merrily. "Awesome. Thanks Kim!"  
"No problem," she says, adjusting her hat. "Now let's go have some fun!"  
Like meets us right outside the classroom. He is dressed all in brown with two long horns poking out from his forehead. "Oh god," I groan. "You had him dress up as a bull?"  
"Of course," Kim says with a smirk. She gives Luke a quick kiss before looping her arm through his. "Now let's go eat some junk food and pretend to be scared by our classmates."  
So it's back to the food stand for funnel cakes with 'bloody sauce', aka strawberry jam thickened with some chocolate syrup. I also get a corn dog because if I don't have any protein ASAP I may faint. I try to eat as daintily as I can so I don't get ketchup or grease on my outfit. Unfortunately a snide voice startles me and a bit of ketchup goes flying. Fortunately it only lands on my shoe.  
"Well well," Amber says, sauntering up to me on four-inch stilettos. "What an appropriate costume." She smirks at me. "Nico the loser clown. Very nice." Amber and her goonies are dressed as angels. Or at least I assume that's what they are. Their short white dresses show more skin than would be deemed appropriate by any religion. Only the little fluffy wings and halos signal what they're supposed to be. They must be freezing. Or maybe being stupid keeps you warm.  
"Wow, Amber. Your costume is so against character. Were they out of slutty devil costumes so you had to settle for irony?" Kim and Luke laugh at that. Iris tries to hold back a smile but fails. Amber's expression turns murderous. At least Lin and Charlotte have the grace to look a little embarrassed.  
"You think you're so great, don't you?" she hisses. "But I'll show everyone how much of a loser you are."  
"Takes one to know one," I say, smiling as sweetly as I can. "Going to paint up my locker some more? Or maybe some more bruises?"  
"Freak, I wouldn't touch your locker if you paid me!" WIth that she turns on her heel and stalks off, Lin and Charlotte following quickly behind. I smirk and finish off my last bite of corn dog.  
"Very nice." Castiel's voice has me whirling around, the bells on my hat jingling merrily. He smiles and gives me a little wave. There are fangs peeking out of his mouth. He's wearing a shirt with a few rips in it. He has on fake nails that turn his long fingers into claws. His hair has been brushed and teased out so it looks like fur. There is a black nose painted on his face and a few whiskers as well. He's wearing colored contacts so his eyes look yellow and wolfish. To top it all off, there are little red pointed ears showing on top of his head.  
"Oh wow," I say a little breathlessly. "You're a werewolf!"  
"Very nice!" Kim says, stepping up to him to examine his hair. "Who did your hair and makeup?"  
"Lysander," he mutters, instantly shutting down.  
"Just what I would expect from Leigh's brother," Kim says, ignoring Castiel's sudden withdrawal. "You look great."  
"Mmhmm," I hum. I poke Castiel and very pointedly raise my brow at him, hoping he gets my message of 'Behave and be nice'. He nods so I think he gets it. "You look great. Terrifying, even." This makes him smile again, once more revealing the fangs. This should not be as attractive as I find it. "Why didn't you text?"  
"I was about to when I saw you raging at Miss Prissy Pants so I decided to watch instead." He leans into me, his smile widening. "I love watching you work." I smile back and pray I am not blushing.  
"Well, I think we'll just go now," Iris says with a smile. "You two have fun." With a wave and another smile they are all off, leaving Castiel and I alone in front of the food stand. We stare at each other for a moment, him smiling. I'm not even sure which emotion is on my face I've got so many vying for dominance in my brain. After a few moments he reaches out and gently takes on of the tails of my hat in his hand, jingling the bell a few times.  
"I like your costume. Pretty unusual to see a cute jester these days. Most girls just try and see how little fabric they can get away with as a costume."  
"Not my thing," I say. "Plus it's chilly. I don't like being cold."  
"I'll keep that in mind," he says. He reaches down to take my hand...  
And I am pulled away by my other hand into the crowd. I try and pull away but the grip on me is strong. The person pulling me is short and is wearing a full-body ninja costume complete with hood that covers the face. "H-hey!" I sputter, trying to pull my wrist free of their grasp. "Lemme go!"  
"No!" they say. "You're coming with me."  
"No I am not!" I say. I dig in my heels and pull back as hard as I can. They stumble and I take the opportunity to pull my wrist free. For good measure, I pinch the nerves in their wrist to make them disengage completely. They yelp and fall flat on their face. I glare at them, tempted to give them a kick to the ribs for good measure. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" I shout, looking around to see where I am. I have been dragged to the one side of the courtyard that has been put aside for the garden club's use. The greenhouse against the school wall shines silver in the moonlight. It would really be quite lovely except for the fact I'm here by force. "And who are you anyway?"  
"That's the problem, isn't it?" the voice hisses. They turn over to face me, a glare behind the thick glasses. "You never notice me!" He whips off his hood in what I assume he thinks is a dramatic motion. Really he just manages to rip off his glasses and make his hair stick out.  
I sign. "Ken? Stars and stones, what the heck do you think you're doing?"  
"It was the only way I could get your attention!" he spits out, real venom in his voice for the first time ever. "You never talk to me anymore! You act like I'm never even there!"  
Unfortunately it's kind of true. I haven't noticed him in weeks, even in the class we have together. "So this is how you get my attention? Drag me away when I'm trying to have a conversation?'  
"Acting like a whore is more like it!" he snaps. "I can't believe you! How could you do this again!"  
I am shocked by what he says. "W-what?"  
"You heard me! Always hanging on Castiel like a tramp, following him wherever he goes. It makes me sick! I thought you would stop when I painted your locker but still you-"  
"You painted those horrible things on my locker?" I whisper. "Ken, how could you?"  
"It wasn't hard, Nicky," he hisses. He finally stands up as straight as he can but he's still a good three inches shorter than I am. "Someone had to call you out on your actions. Jacob did it last time, but no one sees it here. I just wanted you to see me! But you keep throwing yourself at these... guys. You-" He is interrupted by a hand on his shoulder that spins him around. In the moonlight, Castiel's eyes seem to glow.  
"You will stop talking to her like that," Castiel says through clenched teeth. "You will stop doing things to upset her. In fact, you will never, NEVER speak to her again. If you do..." He clenches his free hand in a fist, his knuckles cracking. "There is no force on Earth that will save you. Are we clear, punk?" Ken stutters a few times before nodding. Castiel actually growls at him before releasing his shoulder with a push. "Go home. Don't let me see you near her again." Ken sprints away as fast as his little legs can carry him. Castiel takes a few deep breaths before he looks at me. I can feel the tears falling down my face. For some reason this seems to disturb him more than anything he may have heard Ken say. "Nico? Hey, don't cry now, that little turd didn't know what he was saying." This makes me cry harder. He starts getting a panicked look in his eyes. "Christ, woman, would you quit it? You're smearing your-"  
I launch myself at him, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his chest. I try and keep my crying at low volume so no one else hears and comes to investigate. He wraps his arms around me and holds me, one hand cradling my head and the other around my waist. He pulls off my hat and starts stroking my hair, murmuring softly to me. I hold him until I stop shaking. Then I pull away just enough so I can see his face. He looks down at me with the weirded expression. "What?" I ask, my voice soft.  
His lips quirk in a small smile. "You are the most troublesome girl I've ever met. And your makeup is all over your face."  
"God love a duck," I mutter. "Kim is going to kill me." I reach for the pocket where I usually keep a handkerchief but realize I'm wearing the wrong pants. "You got a hanky or something?"  
"You don't have one?"  
"Um, hello? Where on these pants would I keep a hanky?"  
I swear he blushes a little. "Point. I don't have one but..." He pulls up the end of his shirt and starts to gently wipe the eyeliner off. He's concentrating so hard I can look at him without him noticing. His currently yellow eyes skim my face, looking for bits of makeup to wipe clear. I miss their normal warm brown. His mouth keeps moving, like he's silently giving himself directions. I can't look away from his mouth.  
A sudden loud noise and flash of color has me yanking away from him instinctively. I glance around, my eyes wide and body ready to run. But then another pop has me recognizing the noise. I look up at the fireworks blossoming in the dark sky. I glance at Castiel, who looks as surprised as I do. I smile at him and he smiles back before he starts chuckling. "What?"  
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm that good at makeup removal."  
I sigh. "You realize Kim is going to kill both of us for messing up her masterpiece?"  
"She can try," he smirks. He offers me his arm. "Want to watch the rest of the show?" I nod and take his elbow, leaning against him as I watch the colors bloom against the sky. We watch in silence for a few moments with my head on his shoulder and my arms wrapped around his. Then he speaks. "I won't ask what Ken was talking about. Not until you're ready to talk about it."  
I sigh and rub my forehead on his shoulder. "And I won't ask why you're such a moody butthead. And don't try and tell me it's just the way you are. Because you're not."  
"Fair enough." He turns me toward him and smiles. "Is it ok if I kiss you now?"  
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," I smile back at him. He chuckles and leans in towards me, gently pressing his mouth to mine. His lips are slightly chapped but warm. His hands cup my face and tilt my head for a better angle. And he kisses me again. And again. Until I feel like I can't breathe. He tastes like bittersweet chocolate.  
The fireworks are forgotten. And I don't mind.


End file.
